Harold wrote:What happens when a Tulku dies and does not name anyone as his REGENT OR REGENTS?

Can someone just self declare themself as his REGENT or a group of his former students do that?

What will happen if your karate teacher dies and does not leave an official proclamation of who will continue the style? Will his former students continue to teach the style?

"My religion is not deceiving myself."Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."The Supreme Source - The Kunjed GyalpoThe Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde

There are many many tulkus and most do not have nor need regents. Tulkus range in status and responsibility. It would be very rare for most to need regents. A regent is typically someone who assumes the role by proxy until the new person of responsibility assumes their role. Very similar to regents in monarchies.

The wonderful thing about tradition and lineage is that typically people can't just claim something and have it be accepted. Just as someone can claim to be a doctor but if the accepted accreditation body has not given certification, if universities haven't awarded degrees, if local medical groups dismiss them...it's typically a good sign they are not a doctor. Just as in Dharma...it's quite easy with a small amount of effort to verify someone's lineage and claims.

Harold wrote:Thank you but it still does not answer my question about people self declaring themselves as regents.

Yudron, what does your teacher Lama Tharchin Rinpoche have to say about this question?

I can't speak for Rinpoche, or any of my other lamas.

As far as I know, none of our tulkus have regents. We know who our main lineage holders are, and they would find tulkus if they felt they needed to be found. Our center does not make lamas, and people cannot make themselves lamas. It's not like some Kagyu systems where people are sometimes given a lama title or asked to teach because they finish one or more three year retreats, or called lama simply because they are a monk... so our system has no relevance to your question. We are just simple people who try to practice as best we can and not compete with each other.

Harold wrote:Thank you but it still does not answer my question about people self declaring themselves as regents.

Harold, you are a bit angry and it doesn't help you at all.

People can do whatever they want to do as long as they follow the law of their country. To the best of my knowledge there is no law that stops people from proclaiming themselves Napoleon or calling themselves the reincarnation of Napoleon or the regent of Napoleon. It also happened in Tibet, of course. Right this moment there is a Tibetan that self-proclaimed himself a major Tulku after a longer retreat. All his Gurus told him he was going crazy and that he should get a grip on reality, but to no avail. He is now traveling around in grand style giving empowerment's that he have no qualifications to give and many people think he is a fantastic lama. These things happen everywhere and there is no law against it.

So, there is an inherent issue in your religion, in all religion and actually in any group of people sharing any kind of belief, people can and so certainly also will abuse it when given the opportunity. They will do so because they are crazy or hungry for power or 100% sure they are right or any other reason or mix of reasons that makes sense for them. So is there anything you can do to change this when you feel your particular religious group is behaving as they were crazy?

Yes, you can leave them.

Then for the sake of your own sanity, please let go of your own disappointment.

/magnus

"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."~Kurt Vonnegut

"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)

"All the sublime teachings, so profound--to throw away one and then grab yet another will not bear even a single fruit. Persevere, therefore, in simply one."--Dudjom Rinpoche, "Nectar for the Hearts of Fortunate Disciples. Song No. 8"

I'm confused by all these hypothetical questions. these could apply to any individual in any group. As Magnus said, anyone can claim to be napoleon. How do these hypothetical questions have any relevance to our Dharma practice? Charlatans and fakes are quite easily verified through peers, investigation, lineage, and qualifications. There will always be a very small number of them that might garner some admirers but I'm not familiar with any that have duped the masses. I think it's more important to find an authentic teacher to study directly with than looking under every rock for charlatans.